Written Answers
Helicopter Noise Nuisance
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware of the nuisance caused by a helicopter at no great height circling the Kensington area for over half an hour at about 5 p.m. on 23rd May and whether this flight was authorised for some special occasion not likely to be repeated, or was a transgression of the procedures for helicopters flying over Central London.
I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that between approximately 5.20 p.m. and 5.45 p.m. on 23rd May 1985 a police helicopter, operating within the relevant regulations, gave emergency assistance in support of police officers responding to an unsuccessful attempt by prisoners to escape from a prison van in Cromwell Road, London SW3.
National Insurance And Public Funds
asked Her Majesty's Government:By what amount the gross yield to the Exchequer of requiring employers and employees now contracted-out to pay National Insurance contributions at the contracted-in rate would be reduced by the extra employers' National Insurance contributions which would then have to be paid out of public funds.
The Government Actuary estimates that, in relation to the current national insurance contribution structure, were the contracted-out rate to be abolished, the extra secondary contributions to be met from public funds would amount to around £600 million.This calculation assumes that the gross contribution rate would be reduced to maintain contribution revenue at the current level, and that half that reduction in rate would apply to employers' contributions. It also assumes that the amount of Treasury Supplement would remain unchanged.
Child Welfare And Unemployment
asked Her Majesty's Government:What is their response to the report of the Maternity Alliance which alleges that babies born into families where there is unemployment face a greater risk of ill-health and deprivation, with effects stretching beyond childhood, and urging an increase in maternity grants, child benefit and unemployment benefit.
We are committed to the principle of giving financial support to those who bear the extra responsibility of bringing up children. The Maternity Alliance report highlighted the needs of the unemployed with children. Our Green Paper Reform of Social Security (Cmnd. 9517) sets out proposals to meet genuine need for all, whether in or out of work. The proposed assistance for unemployed families includes child benefit and unemployment benefit, and special help for those in need through a new family premium on top of an age-related allowance for each child, and help with maternity costs through the new social fund.
Social Security: Cost Of Administration
asked Her Majesty's Government:How much of the £40 billion spent on the social security system each year is absorbed in administration, and how much is received by claimants.
Of the £40·1 billion estimated expenditure on the social security system in 1985–86, just over 4 per cent. (£1·7 billion) will be spent on administration and 96 per cent. (£38·4 billion) will be paid to claimants.
European Court Of Human Rights: Membership
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will state the names and qualifications of the members of the European Court of Human Rights.
The members of the European Court of Human Rights are:
- Rolv Ryssdal, Norway, former President of the Supreme Court of Norway (President);
- Walter Ganshof van der Meersch, Belgium, former Advocate-General at the Belgian Court of Appeal (Vice-President);
- John Cremona, Malta, former Chief Justice of Malta and President of Constitutional Court;
- Gerard Wiarda, Netherlands, former President of Netherlands Supreme Court;
- Thor Vilhjalmsson, Iceland, President of Supreme Court of Iceland;
- Mrs. Denise Bindschedler-Robert, Switzerland, Professor, University Institute of Advanced International Studies, Geneva;
- Dimitros Evrigenis, Greece, Professor of Law, Thessaloniki;
- Gunnar Lagergren, Sweden, Member of Permanent International Court of Arbitration, former President of Court of Appeal for Western Sweden;
- Feyyaz Golcuklu, Turkey, Professor of Law, Ankara;
- Franz Matscher, Austria, Professor of Law, Salzburg;
- Joao di Deus Pinheiro Farinha, Portugal, Judge of Portuguese Supreme Court and President of Court of Auditors;
- Eduardo Garcia de Enterria, Spain, Professor of Law, Madrid;
- Louis-Edmond Pettiti, France, Advocate at Court of Appeal, Paris;
- Brian Walsh, Ireland, Judge of Irish Supreme Court; Sir Vincent Evans, United Kingdom, former Legal Adviser, FCO;
- Ronald MacDonald (Canada) elected to represent Liechtenstein, Professor of Law, Dalhousie;
- Carlo Russo, Italy, Advocate at Italian Court of Cassation, former Minister in Italian Government;
- Rudolf Bernhardt, FRG, Professor of Law, Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg and Frankfurt;
- Jorgen Gersing, Denmark, Judge, Danish Supreme Court;
- Asphonse Spielmann, Luxembourg, Senior Advocate-General Luxembourg and Advocate-General, Benelux Court of Justice;
- The Cypriot position is vacant.
Spain And Portugal: Treaty Of Accession To Ec
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will make a further statement about the signature of the Spanish and Portuguese Treaty of Accession.
The Treaty on the Accession of Spain and Portugal to the European Communities was signed in Lisbon and Madrid on 12th June. My right honourable and learned friend was the United Kingdom signatory together with our permanent representative to the European Communities.
The Government intend to introduce a Bill on Spanish and Portuguese Accession at the beginning of the next Parliamentary Session which will provide the House with an opportunity to examine the Treaty of Accession before ratification. As soon as a certified copy of the treaty, with the lengthy Act of Accession annexed to it, is available, a copy will be placed in the Library of the House to enable noble Lords to study it. An account of the outcome in the main chapters of the negotiations has been made available meanwhile to noble Lords in the document entitled Annex to the Statement made by the President-In-Office of the European Council to the European Parliament, which was placed in the Library of the House of 23rd April.
I would also draw the attention of noble Lords to a joint Foreign and Commonwealth Office and British overseas trade board booklet called Basic Facts on Spanish Accession. It gives a summary of the relevant transitional arrangements and is designed to help British exporters to the Spanish and Portuguese markets, and was published on 12th June. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House and the Printed Paper Office. A companion booklet on Portuguese accession will be available on 22nd June and copies will also be placed in the Library of the House.
Before leaving Madrid, my right honourable and learned friend had an exchange of letters with the Spanish Foreign Minister in which they agreed that our respective positions concerning Gibraltar had not been affected by signature of the accession treaty. I am arranging for copies of the exchange to be placed in the Library of the House.
Arts Funding: Abolition Of Glc And Mccs
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will confirm the report m
The Times of 7th June that the Arts Council believe that £17 million in arts funding will be lost as a result of the abolition of the GLC and the metropolitan county councils and whether this belief is justified.
I have seen the press release issued by the Arts Council about the total amount needed to support the arts after the abolition of the Greater London Council and the Metropolitan County Councils. I understand that the Arts Council will be making a formal request for increased funding in due course and I will of course consider this, along with any other claims for increased arts funding which are put to me. Last year I announced that additional central funding of £16 million would be provided for the Arts Council in 1986–87. This was intended to cover most, but not all, of the upper tier authorities' budgeted 1983–84 level of performing arts spending, expressed in 1986 prices. The balance of that spending supported arts activities of a mainly local nature, and it remains the Government's view that these should be the responsibility of the successor borough and district authorities whose ratepayers will carry a smaller burden after abolition.
Rockall And Faroes Troughs: Petroleum Production Licences
asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the "deep water frontier areas of the Rockall and Faroes troughs", concerning which conditional awards of petroleum production licences have recently been announced, are fully recognised by all neighbouring states as being subject to exclusive British sovereign rights for the purposes of exploration and exploitation, and if not, what steps they are taking to secure such recognition.
No neighbouring states have challenged the United Kingdom's sovereign rights in those areas of the Rockall and Faroes troughs where petroleum production licences have been issued. The United Kingdom designated this area in 1974 by Order in Council under the Continental Shelf Act 1964.